Here are the ten most frequently challenged (attempted to be banned) books of 2010:
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
Lush, by Natasha Friend
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie
Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
Of those, I've read three:
Crank - drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
This book was written in a very poetic format, with short chapters that were easy to get through. It was challenged for having sexual content, drugs, racism, and explicit language. Which it does, there's no denying that. The main character is addicted to crystal meth, after all. However, it also teaches about the consequences of those actions. While probably not appropriate for elementary or even middle school kids, I think that it could help a teen struggling with drugs or drug temptations to see how screwed up their life might get if they continue on that path. The material is sometimes shocking and really sad, but the author in no way glorifies the main character's poor choices.
Twilight - sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
Twilight hatred is so common that it's almost a fad, but honestly I don't hate it. I roll my eyes at the incredibly popularity it has attained, the awful editing and the main character's passivity, but I don't hate it. Twilight fulfills an important role for teenaged girls: wish fulfillment. The main character has her own car, run of the town, and two hot supernatural boys fighting over her. Um, yes please. Millions of people are willing to overlook the faults in order to step into that amazing fantasy.
As for the challenges...I get the feeling that most of these challengers didn't really read the series. The relationships are not graphic at all--in fact, the main characters do not do anything more than kiss until the fourth book, in which they are married, and it's still not graphic at all. Religion is never really mentioned in the story--any religious undertones are purely subtext...which I didn't see when I read it, and the violence is laughably tame. The age group accusation is also unfounded. It's aimed at middle and high school aged girls. I think it's totally appropriate for anyone 11 and up.
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
I actually didn't enjoy this book very much because it was so...depressing. It follows a high school aged Native American boy who transfers to a school off of his reservation because it's a better school. The kids at his new school hate him because he's Indian, and his friends from the reservation hate him because he's a traitor now. He's living in poverty, is surrounded by people with horrible home lives, and then a bunch of people in his life die.
But as depressing as it is, it also incredibly relevant. For a white kid who grew up in the suburbs, well beyond the civil rights riots of the 1960's, this book shows how racism, segregation, and poverty are still very much topics we should be talking about today. As for the challenges...I already stated that the racism is a central factor in making it a good relevant read for today's kids. I don't think that the language or violence is beyond the 7th grade + group that it was marketed to, and I don't even remember the sexual scenes...
Okay I looked it up and the "sexual content" is referring to the two 14 year old male characters discussing masturbation. Parents who think that their 13 year old boys aren't already talking about that subject are sadly disillusioned. Girls get their periods, boys start masturbating. That's puberty! Sex ed classes start in 4th grade in public schools in my area...how is this an inappropriate subject for seventh graders?
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Overall, I think that supporting the freedom of publication and reading is very important, and that parents should have to opt-out of books that they deem inappropriate and monitor what their kids are reading, rather than taking books off of the shelves. That's part of being a parent. Just like reading materials that you're not allowed to is part of being a teenager. I learned more about sex from stealing my mom's "steamy" romance novels than any sex ed class, after all.
Yay banned books!
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